The present invention relates in general to performance testing of network devices, and, more specifically, to an apparatus and method for testing network devices at a capacity greater than what can be generated by a single test tool.
Telecommunications network devices such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, session border controllers, and other known devices having routing and security functions are tested in order to validate their performance by the device manufacturer prior to sale and by the purchaser of the device before putting it into production use in a live network. Network security devices in particular need to be tested in order to establish their reliability under high traffic loads. Desired tests include a maximum connections test for determining the maximum number of sessions sustainable by the device under test (DUT), and a maximum connection rate test for determining the maximum number of new connections per second that the DUT can handle. These capacity tests determine the scalability of the DUT.
Test tools are developed having a reliability and scalability sufficiently high to perform the desired tests. The test tools used must have a guaranteed capacity greater than or equal to the scalability capacity of the DUT. Consequently, test tools are complex and expensive devices typically costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
One example of a commercially available test tool includes the SmartBits® high port density performance analysis system from Spirent Communications of Calabasas, Calif. A SmartBits® chassis is typically provided with a plurality of multi-port test modules coupled to a personal computer workstation operating graphical user interface (GUI) software and specialized testing software such as the Firewall Module WebSuite also from Spirent Communications.
Once a test tool is acquired, the user is able to conduct the specified tests up to the capacity of the test tool. Over time, the scalability of network devices being purchased and put into use by the test tool user (e.g., a network provider) is increasing. Eventually, new network devices are obtained with a scalability higher than can be tested by the maximum output of the older test tool. Thus, the makers of the test tools produce new versions of the test tool to handle the increased capacity of the new network devices under test, resulting in the need for even more investment in test tools by the network providers.